Publication

The Methadone Alliance supports people who receive prescribed drugs for the treatment of their drug dependency. We are users and sympathetic professionals working together as equals in a unique initiative to give drug users a voice in the drug policy debate.

The Methadone Alliance actively promotes the participation and involvement of drug users in its running, as well as in the wider debate about drug policy and treatment.

The name ‘The Methadone Alliance’ reflects the fact that the majority of substitution prescriptions issued in the UK are at present for this drug. However, we recognise that there are other drugs legitimately prescribed by doctors for drug users and we welcome people maintained on drugs other than methadone.

Structure

The Methadone Alliance is led by a General Secretary working with a small Executive Group. They help to decide policy and advise the organisation in its day-to-day work. In addition, we have a number of senior figures who are Patrons of the Alliance.

Members of the Executive:

• Dr. Chris Ford, Chair
• Garry Sutton, Vice Chair
• Bill Nelles, General Secretary
• Ailsa Duncan,Treasurer
• Erin O’Mara, Executive Member
• Sebastian Saville, Executive Member

Activities

The Methadone Alliance is currently:

• Providing a telephone helpline giving advice and support to people two evenings a week. We also have an advice and information service for drug treatment professionals.
• Developing peer advocacy programmes by providing training to service users to become trained and accredited peer advocates.
• Collecting feedback from service users.
• Lobbying service providers, (both NHS and Independent), and government on behalf of people who receive prescribed drugs.
• Promoting more accurate images of people who use prescribed drugs to the media, to the government, and to the general public.
• Producing high quality information and advice for medical practitioners and allied professionals about substitute prescribing. We have recently been commissioned to produce a commentary and guide to the new 1999 Department of Health Clinical Guidelines on the treatment of Drug Misuse.
• Contributing to the debate on prescribing for drug users by publishing articles, writing letters, and appearing in the media.
• Planning a major UK conference examining current UK policy and clinical practice in the treatment of opiate dependency.
• Working alongside other drug-user groups who make up the ‘National Drug Users Network’.

The Methadone Alliance
35 Cavendish Rd
London, United Kingdom
N4 1RP
Helpline +44 (0)181 374 4395